East European immigrants with cancer 'could swamp the NHS'

The Health Service could be "overwhelmed" by cancer sufferers from Eastern Europe, a leading doctor has warned.

There are almost twice as many smokers in Poland and neighbouring countries than the UK, which means they have far higher rates of lung and other cancers.

Dr David Collingridge, editor of the respected journal Lancet Oncology, warned that so many East European migrants have arrived in Britain in recent years that the NHS may struggle to cope with the subsequent rise in cancer patients.

Official figures show that 579,000 people have come to Britain from Eastern Europe since the expansion of the European Union in 2004, though the true figure is thought to be far higher.

Dr Collingridge said: "Clearly, any large increase in population over a short period of time will put considerrapidlyable pressure on, and possibly overwhelm, NHS infrastructure.

"The new migrant communities have different cultural and lifestyle habits that influence their cancer risk. They will also have different inheritable characteristics.

"This will undoubtedly change the cancer burden and the proportions of various cancers commonly seen in the UK."

Recent data suggests up to half of all Polish men smoke. Lung cancer kills more men in Eastern Europe than any other form of the disease. In the UK, on the other hand, more men die of prostate cancer.

The NHS's Cancer Plan is based on needs identified in 2000.

Dr Collingridge said it may have to be drastically rewritten to take into account the different needs of Eastern European patients. He added: "The increasing number of people needing access to healthcare in the UK puts greater emphasis on a need for easily accessible local services, particularly for emergency medicine, maternity units, general practitioners and the like.

"Otherwise, regional hospitals could easily become overwhelmed or inaccessible to many people.

"The increasing pressures on NHS services continue to emphasise a need for increased efficiencies; in particular, there needs to be a demonstrable decrease in bureaucracy and increased electronic streamlining of systems that benefit both doctors and patients."

In March, the British Pregnancy Advisory service said that increased demand for pregnancy care and abortions as a result of immigration was a "huge challenge" for the NHS.

In some areas as many as one in four women seeking an abortion comes from Eastern Europe. More than 5,000 babies are born to Polish parents in England every year.

A spokesman for the Department of Health insisted that the NHS would be able to cope with demands of immigration. He said: "Cancer mainly affects older people - around 74 per cent of people diagnosed with cancer are over 60.

"Given the average age of Eastern European immigrants - around 80 per cent are under 84 - it will be decades before any different risk behaviours, such as smoking, mean higher workloads for NHS cancer services.

"Smoking may be higher among recent migrants from Eastern Europe but if they decide to remain in the UK long enough, they will have been exposed to behaviour-changing initiatives, such as action the Government has taken on smoking in public places.

"As part of the cancer reform strategy, we are considering the issue of future cancer service capacity across England, including looking at how population changes will affect future need."